Top Five Phoenix Food Stories of the Week

Every week, there's a cornucopia of Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you're like most people, you probably just don't have the time to get to all of it. So, here's a recap of some of the top stories from the week that you may have missed.

It's a pretty exciting time for craft beer in Arizona. Not only does Phoenix have more and more local bars offering craft brews from around the country, there's an abundance of breweries popping up around town. Ten years ago, we couldn't have made a list of our 10 favorite Phoenix-area breweries because there just weren't that many. Now, we can put our beer-geek boots on and drink down all the local brews in town to tell you which are the absolute best.

At the end of August, the Biltmore corridor will come up one spot short of a place to score adult libations: Sportsman's Fine Wines & Spirits is shuttering.

A combination wine bar and liquor boutique, Sportsman's is known for its offerings of more than 3,000 brands of wine, an extensive selection of single malt scotches, and top-shelf spirits from all over the world. It also features a comfortable in-house bar and small-plate bistro as well as a staff of friendly and knowledgeable sommeliers.

According to the Arizona Republic, Valley chef-legend Mark Tarbell is expected to take over the space left vacant by Sportsman's, which is adjacent to his restaurant, Tarbell's.

The restaurateur, who opened Central Bistro in East Phoenix last November, and North Scottsdale's Local Bistro in 2010, is planning to open his most ambitious venture yet this fall: a Mexican-Asian restaurant called Sumo Maya.